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The opioid-driven overdose crisis has had devastating effects across North America, resulting from a complex interplay between individual, social-structural, and environmental factors. Changing approaches to pain management, increased heroin use, and potent synthetic opioids infiltrating the drug supply are compounded by both lack of access to opioid use disorder treatment and surrounding stigma. Inappropriate opioid prescribing practices in healthcare settings have played a central role, and in recent years, there has been increasing interest in implementing hospital-based opioid stewardship programs aimed at improving safety and monitoring opioid prescribing. There is a range of approaches taken by these programs, ranging from audit and feedback to consult services; however, a significant focus of many of these programs is on medication restriction. Such measures stand to negatively impact the care of people with complex healthcare needs, including those currently on long-term opioid therapy, and those with increased opioid tolerance. In this commentary, we emphasize the importance of creating opioid stewardship programs focused on appropriate pain treatment rather than solely on medication restriction to both appropriately prescribe to and manage pain in people who use illicit drugs. This population faces many barriers to care, such as unique dose requirements and high interpatient variability that "one size fits all" stewardship cannot appropriately address. Additionally, opioid stewardship programs that use patient-centered strategies such as multi-disciplinary consult services have been shown to lead to positive health outcomes and have significant potential to address the current shortcomings in pain management for people who use illicit drugs.

Opioid stewardship has emerged as an innovative systems-level approach designed to reduce inappropriate opioid prescriptions and improve patient safety in acute care settings. Modeled on the successes of antimicrobial stewardship programs, key distinctions exist; in particular, the inherent subjectivity of managing acute pain is an important consideration of opioid stewardship that differentiates it with the more objective features of antibiotic selection. Shared decision-making, with pharmacists playing a central role, is regarded as an integral part of patient care and plays a vital role in managing pain. We describe important attributes of opioid stewardship and highlight the value of incorporating shared decision-making into these novel programs.

Background: Despite the recent increase in opioid overdoses across Canada, few pharmacy-led initiatives have been implemented to address issues related to opioid prescribing in the hospital setting. Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to develop a clinical tool, intended for use by hospital pharmacists and informed by best practices from the literature, that would provide a structured approach to enhancing the safety of opioid prescribing. The secondary objective was to collect pharmacists’ opinions about the feasibility and utility of this tool. Methods: A comprehensive literature search and pharmacist focus group analysis provided content for development of a candidate clinical tool. This tool was then piloted by clinical pharmacists working on general medical and surgical units in a single hospital. Pharmacists participating in the pilot were invited to complete an online survey concerning their perceptions of the tool. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the survey results. Results: The literature search and focus group analysis led to development of a candidate clinical tool that focused on Medication review, Optimization, Reassessment, and Education (MORE). It included key risk factors relating to opioid safety, along with suggested mitigating strategies. The MORE tool was piloted for 3 weeks by 14 clinical pharmacists, 9 of whom responded to the subsequent survey. Five respondents indicated that the clinical tool increased their ability to identify risk factors. Five respondents also noted an increase in their ability to identify possible interventions. Most respondents felt that the tool was useful and that it would be feasible to integrate it into their practice; however, they noted that a more streamlined version could improve ease of use. Conclusions: The MORE tool was well received by clinical pharmacists. Implementation of the tool into routine practice requires additional changes to improve ease of use. Suggestions for modifying and streamlining the tool will be incorporated into future versions. RESUME Contexte : Malgre l’augmentation recente des surdoses d’opioides au Canada, peu d’initiatives menees sous la houlette de pharmacies ont ete mises en place sur les enjeux potentiels lies a la prescription d’opiaces en milieu hospitalier. Objectifs : L’objectif principal de cette etude visait a elaborer un outil destine aux pharmaciens d’hopitaux, s’inspirant des meilleures pratiques rapportees dans la documentation, qui fournirait une approche structuree pour ameliorer la securite de la prescription d’opioides. L’objectif secondaire consistait a recueillir les opinions des pharmaciens sur la faisabilite et l’utilite d’un tel outil. Methode : Des recherches bibliographiques etendues ainsi qu’une analyse de groupes de discussion de pharmaciens ont fourni le contenu necessaire a l’elaboration d’un outil clinique experimental. Ensuite, cet outil a ete teste par des pharmaciens cliniciens travaillant dans des unites medicales generales et chirurgicales au sein d’un seul hopital. Les pharmaciens participant au projet pilote ont ete invites a repondre a une enquete en ligne sur leur perception de l’outil. Des statistiques descriptives ont permis d’analyser les resultats de l’enquete. Resultats : Les recherches bibliographiques et l’analyse des groupes de discussion ont debouche sur le developpement d’un outil clinique nomme MORE [pour Medication review, Optimization, Reassessment, and Education , ou Examen, optimisation, reevaluation et education aux medicaments]. Il comprenait des facteurs de risque lies a la securite des opioides ainsi que des suggestions de strategies d’attenuation. Quatorze pharmaciens cliniciens, dont neuf ont repondu a l’enquete qui a suivi, ont teste le MORE pendant trois semaines. Cinq repondants ont indique que l’outil clinique augmentait leur capacite a determiner les facteurs de risque. Cinq ont egalement note une meilleure capacite a determiner les interventions possibles. La plupart des repondants ont estime que l’outil etait utile et qu’il serait possible de l’integrer dans leur pratique; cependant, ils ont aussi note qu’une version simplifiee pourrait faciliter son utilisation. Conclusions : Les pharmaciens cliniciens ont bien accueilli l’outil MORE. Sa mise en oeuvre dans la pratique courante exige cependant des changements supplementaires pour faciliter son utilisation. Les versions a venir tiendront compte des propositions visant a le modifier et a le simplifier.

We report 6 cases of intravenous levofloxacin use to treat multidrug-resistant nosocomial respiratory infections in neonates with a postmenstrual age ranging from 27 to 42 weeks. Because of a lack of neonatal-specific information for levofloxacin, the usual pediatric dosage (10 mg/kg per dose every 12 hours) was used in these patients. Clinical cure occurred in 5 of the 6 patients. Only minimal short-term adverse effects were noted.

The clinical effectiveness and value of camel milk as a therapeutic agent is currently unclear. MEDLINE (1946 to March 2016), EMBASE (1974 to March 2016), and Google Scholar were searched using the following terms: milk, bodily secretions, camels, camelus, camelini, camelidae, dromedary, bactrian camel, body fluid, and bodily secretions. Articles identified were reviewed if the study was investigating the use of camel milk for the potential treatment of diseases affecting humans. Of 430 studies, 24 were included after assessment. Identified studies highlighted treatment with camel milk of diseases, including diabetes, autism, cancer, various infections, heavy metal toxicity, colitis, and alcohol-induced toxicity. Although most studies using both the human and animal model do show a clinical benefit with an intervention and camel milk, limitations of these studies must be taken into consideration before widespread use. Based on the evidence, camel milk should not replace standard therapies for any indication in humans.

OBJECTIVE: Clozapine, an antipsychotic reserved for management of treatment-resistant schizophrenia, is associated with severe adverse effects, including myocarditis. This study aims to determine the incidence of clozapine-induced myocarditis at a large tertiary hospital compared to what is reported in the literature. METHODS: Medical records of adult patients admitted to psychiatry units receiving clozapine between January 1, 2010, and July 31, 2016, were retrospectively reviewed. Cases of clozapine-induced myocarditis were defined as having elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) or detectable troponin and at least 1 sign or symptom of myocarditis, in the absence of alternative plausible aetiologies. The primary outcome was incidence of clozapine-induced myocarditis during the study period. Secondary outcomes included rate and description of the management of clozapine-induced myocarditis. RESULTS: In total, 316 patients were screened; 10 patients met the case definition for clozapine-induced myocarditis. The incidence of this adverse drug reaction over the study period was 3.16%. Reduced left ventricular ejection fraction was observed in 60% of cases, and electrocardiography changes were noted in 60% of cases. Clozapine was discontinued in all cases. Rechallenge was performed in 2 patients; recurrent CRP elevation resulted in discontinuation in each case. Medications for management of myocarditis were used in 50% of cases. Although 2 patients required transfer to critical care, the in-hospital mortality rate was 0%. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of clozapine-induced myocarditis at the study hospital was consistent with the higher range reported in the literature. Further research is necessary to elucidate risk factors, definitive diagnostic criteria, and effective management of clozapine-induced myocarditis.

Aim To characterize the inpatient care received by individuals experiencing early psychotic episodes in an inner city hospital. Method Medical records of patients admitted between April 01, 2013, and March 31, 2015, to a psychiatric ward at an inner city hospital were retrospectively examined. Included in the study are patients who were 25 years of age or younger and were hospitalized for psychotic symptoms. Demographics and health service use were summarized using descriptive statistics. Results A total of 73 inpatients (mean age = 22; males =78%; Caucasian = 41%) met the study inclusion criteria with a combined total of 102 care episodes and an average length of stay of 32.6 days. Monitoring of vital signs (VS) and mental status examinations (MSE) were performed in most care episodes although these were not performed regularly (daily VS checks—31%; MSE every nursing shift—18.6%). In 49% of the care episodes, patients were discharged on long-acting injectable antipsychotics. Even when indicated, not all care episodes had follow-up appointments (82.8%) in the community. The use of seclusion was higher in the wards (32%) than in the emergency department (21%), whereas the use of restraints was higher in the emergency department (16%) than in the wards (

Concerns about the sustainability of current health care expenditure are focusing attention on the cost, quality and value of health care provision. Financial incentives, for example pay-for-performance (P4P), seek to reward quality and value in health care provision. There has long been an expectation that P4P schemes are coming to rheumatology. We review the available evidence about the use of incentives in this setting and provide two emerging examples of P4P schemes which may shape the future of service provision in rheumatology. Currently, there is limited and equivocal evidence in rheumatology about the impact of incentive schemes. However, reporting variation in the quality and provision of rheumatology services has highlighted examples of inefficiencies in the delivery of care. If financial incentives can improve the delivery of timely and appropriate care for rheumatology patients, then they may have an important role to play in the sustainability of health care provision.

Introduction/objectivesThe available literature suggests that treatments and health services for psychosis are considered to be poorly organized and highly variable. Little is known, however, about how inpatient care is provided to individuals experiencing early psychosis. To facilitate quality improvement activities, we characterized the care this patient group receives in an inner city hospital.MethodsWe performed chart reviews of individuals admitted to psychiatric inpatient units at St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia between 01/04/2014 and 31/03/2016. Those who were 17–25 years of age and hospitalized for psychotic symptoms at the time of admission were included. Demographic and health service use were summarized using descriptive characteristics.ResultsWe identified 73 inpatients (mean age = 22; males = 78%; Caucasian = 41%) that met study inclusion criteria, having a combined total of 102 care episodes and an average length of stay of 30.7 days (median = 18; min = 3; max = 268). Half of the care episodes were repeat admissions, with up to 30% of the patients readmitted within 28 days of discharge. Physical and mental status examinations (MSE) were performed in virtually all care episodes, although frequency is low (31.4% had daily physical examinations and 18.6% had MSE every nursing shift). In 49% and 50% of care episodes, patients were given oral antipsychotics and discharged on depot medications. Even when indicated, not all care episodes had follow-up appointments (60%) or referrals to income assistance (35%), community mental health teams (61%), and housing support (38%).ConclusionsSpecific programs are needed to address current gaps in inpatient care for patients with early psychosis.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.